Bangla Sahib (29.02.08)

Still Saturday, 9th February.

When we finally met with Varun (Gaetton's friend), we headed of towards Gurdwara Bangla Sahib, a Sikh Temple. It's really impressing. The atmosphere - full of respect and honour.
To get inside, we have to take our shoes off and cover our heads. So it gets colder. There's a red carpet on the stairs. We enter the Temple in silence.
Wow. Soft carpet on the floor, religious Sikhs sitting in the corners... There's something like an altar in the middle – a square platform, decorated with gold. 2 men are sitting on it, singing holy texts from a Sikh's holy book, Guru Granth Sahib. Varun tells us that the book is of great importance, it's highly respected and has it's own richly decorated “room” in the other corner of the Temple.

Now, at the end of the day, the book is transported to its room. So, the procession starts. All the Sikhs gather in front of the altar, there are some strange rituals – the book is covered in golden cloth, the sound of drums and bells spreads throughout the temple. When a man dressed in white is carrying a book towards the room, the rest of Sikhs are throwing flowers towards it, singing songs, bowing down. Soon the book disappears behind golden doors, on the colourful bed. Now it's time to clean the temple. All the ritual dishes and the altar are washed in water mixed with milk, the carpets and floor are swept with a little brush and many Sikhs go upstairs, to a kind of inner balcony. That's a meditation and reading room. There are small books with Sikh texts on a cupboard, everyone can take it and read it.

Varun, who is a very religious man, explains us everything, tells about his religion. He claims it doesn't confine its followers – it's not compulsory to visit the temple, there's no particular day that you should celebrate, everyone can come here at any time.

When we leave the building, we get the blessing in form of a sweet delicacy made of semolina. It's distributed by a small stall – a man uses his hands only and put the pulp on our hands. Well, I'm not sure whether I should eat it... hygienic reasons...? oh, doesn't matter! I risk and I don't regret it, because it's really tasty

There's a holy water, like a small lake, near the Temple. It's said it has a healing power and a lot of Sikhs from around the world come here to take a sample with them and bring it home. Many Sikhs also bathe in the lake. Women can do the same but in a small basin, separated by high walls.

We're walking around the lake, passing many Sikhs in turbans. Varun explains that the head cover isn't compulsory either. The colour and shape of it says a lot about the social status. Young boys usually wear a kind of cup with a pompom and then, when their hair is cut, then can change it to a real turbans.